A Cormack man convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl will spend between three and five years in jail depending on what a Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador judge decides.

Peter Jacob Enoil Hoyles appeared before Justice David Hurley in Supreme Court in Corner Brook on Wednesday for a sentencing hearing on two counts of sexual assault and one count of uttering threats.

The sexual assaults date back to between Aug. 24 and Sept. 6, 2011 and the victim was under the age of 16 at the time.

Hoyles had also been charged with kidnapping the girl, but that charge along with one count of dangerous driving from October 2011 and two counts of breach of probation had been dismissed during an earlier court appearance. Two charges of sexual interference were stayed.

Crown attorney Adam Sparkes suggested to Hurley that Hoyles should serve a term in the range of four to five years.

Sparkes said mandatory DNA, sexual offender registry and firearms prohibitions should also be imposed on Hoyles. He said the sexual offender registration should be for life and the firearms prohibition for the minimum 10 years.

Sparkes also requested that Hoyles be ordered to stay away from playgrounds.

Hoyles’ lawyer, Jonathan Regan, agreed the range of sentence for sexual assaults in the province is between three and seven years, however, he felt a lesser time of three years in jail was appropriate.

He noted that while Hoyles doesn’t acknowledge the events, he has indicated he would be willing to partake in any programs recommended for him.

Regan said that Hoyles has no prior convictions for similar offences and his limited criminal record includes unrelated offences.

He said his client is a young man and rehabilitation has to be considered.

Regan said Hoyles has no issues with the conciliatory orders requested by the Crown, but asked that the victim fine surcharge be waived. The offences pre-date changes to the legislation making such fines mandatory and therefore can be waived by the judge.

Hoyles has been in custody since his conviction in January and Regan asked that any sentence the judge impose include credit for time served.

Sparkes said he felt the credit should be time for time and Regan said he would leave it to the court’s discretion to decide if it should be time for time or time and a half.

Hurley deferred from making a decision on Wednesday and set Hoyles sentencing for April 2 at 10 a.m. He will remain in custody until then.

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